Protective arrangement



Dec. 6, 1932. F, J, LANE 11,890,331

PnoTEcTIvE AHRANGEMENT Filed Jun@ 5o. 1931 2 sheets-sheet i JAAA AIAA

3 asi Invertow: Francis J. Lane,

(be/ax His Attorney.

Dec.- 6, 1932.

F. J. LANE PROTECTIVE ARRANGEMENT Filed June 30, 1931 VUV Im/@mtmw Francis J. Landes l indicatea fault on that section. 35-

Patented Dec. 6, 1932 irse sra FRANCIS JOHN LANE, LONDON, ENGLAND, ASSGNCR 'IO GENERAL ELECTRIC j i COMPANY, A. COR'EORATOI- QF NEW' YORK ROTEC'SEVE ARRANGEMEIT Application, ilerl .Tune EG, 1931, Serial No. 548,918, and in Great Britain July 29, 1930.'

My invention relates to improvements in protective arrangements and more particu larly to improvements inpr-otective arrangements for isolating a section of circuit in an electric distribution'system lor for disconnecting a circuit 1which includetlie Windingsvof electric apparatus inthe event of a fault developing lin the section or appato be protected. Y*

gcystems are linoivn in which the magnitude and phase of the current entering a section of an electric circuitis compared-with the magnitude and phase ofthe current leavinghthe section,v for example, by means of current transformers associated-With the con ductors at the ends of the section, the second aryvvindings 4of which vare .interconnected by pilot conductors, as in circulating current or opposed voltage systems. v lilith such rangements, in normal conditions, the output. from lthe secondary windings of the curreiitf transformers lslbalanced, but in abnormal fault conditions the circuit ,balance is upset and protective relays are caused to respond, whereby the faulty section or apparatus in obtainingfthe required stat-e of balance for capacity currents` which pilot circuit and causetlie operation of the protective apparatus under overload conditions ontlie section which do not necessarily The object lof my invention is to remove My invention consists in connecting in the4 pilot circuit elements adapted to move in synchronism With lthe current at the'endsrof the section to be protected,I the arrangement of these elements being` sucli thatthe trip coil or coils of-a protective circuit breaker' or breakers, o r a relayer relays adapted to actuate thesaidtrip coils isor are onlyenergized when,

. owing to a flack ofsynchronism in the-tivo;

elements, the'pilot circuit is complet d and i v 5'V beisolated. ln such systems, however, dint. culties. are frequently encountered, first, in.

theV disadvantages which' have been encounteredr current oivs therethrough. rfhe elements adapted tovibrate in synchronism with thev currents at the ends of the section areprefera-bly, and will be hereinafter referred to as, vibratory reeds associated With or forming part of an electric relay' of'known type, but it is to be understood that these may be replaced byother devices adapted to perform the samel function such, for example, as synchronous motors provided with suitable commutators.v

In the simplest arrangement according to my invention7 the reeds are drivenby currents obtained from secondary windings of current transformers associated With the ends of the section to be protected and are arranged to be in a state of vibration Whenever current is flowing in the protected circuit. In some cases, however, it may be desirable to arrange that the reeds are normally out of action and are only energized on the occurrence of Overload conditions which may indicate the presence of a fault on the protected circuit. In such cases, a current may continuously circulate in the pilot circuit and the protectivore-` lay or relays or the tripping coil or coilsv of the protective circuit breakers are then arranged to be unresponsive to such continuously circulatin g current. Y On the occurrence of overload conditions Which may indicate the presence of a fault on `the protected circuit, the vi ra-v tory reeds are set into operation and the protective relays Will then respond only When the pilot circuit is completed in the event 'of a'V laclrvof synchronism occurring between the vibratory reeds actuated by the currents -at the ends of the section. .n My invention will be better understood from the following description when considered in connectionwvith the accompanying drawings andv its scope yWill be pointed out in the appended claims. y

vinthe accompanying drawings, Fig. l diagrammatically illustra-tes a protective arrangement embodying my invention and shown in single-phase diagram for clearness. Fig. 2 diagrammatically illustrates a modifi-` cation ofV the embodiment ofv my invention shown in Fig. 1. Figs. 3,4 and 5 diagram matically illustrate further embodiments of my invention as applied to a three-phase circuit, and Fig. 6 illustrates another modilication of my invention in single-phase diagram.

Referring to Fig. 1, I have shown a section of a circuit 1 which it is desired to protect against fault conditions, as limited by circuit.. breakers 2 and 3. The arrangement shown in this figure is suitable for protecting the circuit when it is adapted to be supplied from both ends, that is to say, when it forms part of a ring main circuit. At the i end of the section adjacent the circuit breakv the current transformer 12, vibrating-reed re-r er 2, I have indicated a current transformer 4, the output of which is supplied to a frequency responsive means'such as arelay 5 having a reed 6 adapted to vibrate in synclironism with the currentobtained from the currenttransformer 4.` Therelay 5 may Lbe of any suitable construction, examples of which are well known to the art. The reed 6 bears at its end a contact 7 adapted to cooperate with al stationary contact 8 which is connected in one o'f the conductors 9 of a pilot circuit. The reed G is also connected through the trip coil 10 of the circuit breaker 2 to another conducktor 11 of the pilot circuit. .At the other end of the section adjacent the breaker corresponding apparatus is provided comprising lay 13and trip coil 14, the connections of the relay 13 and the trip coil 14 being similar to those alreadydescribed in connection with the relay 5. lThe pilot circuit further includes-a f source of voltage indicated as a battery 15 and a current-limiting resistance 16. Furthermore, across the contacts of `the vibrating reed relay there may be provided condensersV 17 forthe purpose of reducing sparking. Onek terminal of the current transformers 4 and 12 is earthed as indicated.

The operation of this arrangement is. as follows:

Und-er normal conditions, that is when the currents enteringV and leaving the section of the feeder 1 are in phase, the'vibrating reeds 6 are oscillating with the same phase and frequency. When the contacts 7 and 8 of the relay 5 are making, the corresponding contacts of the relay `13are breaking` and, consequently, so long as normal conditions are maintained no current will flow in the pilot circuit. `When, however, owing to a fault on the protected section, displacement in phase occurs in the currents entering and leaving the section, synchronisin between the reeds of the relays 5 and 13fis upset and the contacts of the two Arelays `will be making `'together for a portion of a cycle with the result that current will flow in the pilot conductors, which will cause the energization of the trip coils l0 and 14 thereby opening the circuit breakers 2 and 3 'and disconnecting the faulty section. It is to be understood that the trip coils .10 and l14 may be operated indirectl7 by relays having their operating coils includedY in the v pilot circuit.

duce, .as shown in Fig..2, mea-ns for :normally rendering the relays 5 and 13 inoperative, such as an auxiliary overload relay 1 8 arranged V"in normal conditions to short circuit the coil of the relays 5 and 13 the contacts of these relays and thetrip coils ofthe circuit breakers 2.and 3. For this purpose,relays 18 are Vprovided with contacts 1.9.and20and cors. responding cooperating` contact .members which normally bridge those contacts,ycon.`

tacts 19 efeotingthe short-circuiting` of the operatingcoils of the vibrating. reed. .relays while contacts 20 effect the vshort-circuiting of the trip coils ofthe circuit vbreakers and the-contacts of the vibratingreed relays. Re-

lays 18 each have a winding21'whichis con-V nected to the correspondingI current transformers 4 and 12.y .the winding-being, energized-suciently to open contacts 19 andQO current appears `on vthe only when a fault feeder 1. In these conditions, the .connections ofthe vibrating reed relays arethenput into the condition shown .inFigt 1 andthe ar.- rangement will then opera-te in/the manner described inconne'ction withthat figure. Y

In Fig. 3 I have shown an arrangement similar toithat in Fig. 2 'as extended Y.to the protection of a three-phase circuit, In 'this' arrangement two vseparate vibrating reedv relays 22, 23 and 24, 25 are used at each end-of the section to 'give' separate vvvphase and cearth sensitivity, the relays being actuated-bythe currents obtained from separate current transformer sets" 26 and 27 associatedv withl the phaseconductors at each endofithe section, each current transformer set comprising double wound current transformers con-- nected by aknown method. Each vibrating reed relay has associatedwithfit an auxiliary overcurrent relay28 to 31 respectively,jeach overload relay having three separatefsetsof contacts, of whichthosejassociated with overload relays 28 and 29 onlyi will bedescribed. Contacts 32 and 32 of overload relays 28 and 29 are arrangedto short-circuit the operatingl windings of vibrating reed relays'2`2 and2234v respectively, contacts 33 and 33 are arranged to shortlcircuitithe contacts of vibrating reed. relays 22 and 23 respectively; 34 and 34 are connected in series and-,are arranged'to short-circuit the'tripcoil 10 of the tions are'used betweenthe contacts of overloadrelays. 30 and' 31 and the vibratingv reed and contacts circuit breaker '2. Corresponding @ouncethree-,phase circuit, three individual pilot conductors 35, 36 and 37 are employed instead of the two required'in connection with the single-phase schemes shown in Figs. 1 and 2. It will be seen that after the overload relays 28 and 31 have operated, in theV event of either the relays r22 and 24 or 23 and 25- vibrating out of synchronism, a circuit will be completed through the pilot conductors and the trip coils'lO andv 14 of the circuit breakers 2 and 3. This c auses these circuit breakers to open and disconnect the protected section; the contacts of relays 22 and 23 being connected in parallel throughthetrip coils 10 land 14 by means of the pilot conductors, being the common pilot conductor connecting `the trip coils and. pilot conductors 36 and 37 respectively connecting the contacts of relays 22, 24 and 23, 25.

In Fig. 4 I have shown an arrangement in which a'single vibrating reed relay 5, 13 at each end of the section may be used to give both. phase and earth sensitivity in connection with a three-phase feeder. In this arrangement, star-connected current-transformer sets 38, 39 are used at each end of the section and arev connected to intermediate summation transformers 40, 41 of the type disclosed in United States Letters Patent 1,776,130, issued September 16, 1930, on an application liled'by II. S. Petch. The secondary windings 42 and 43 of these trans formers are connected to the vibrating reed relays 5 and 13 which are otherwise connected in accordance with the scheme already described in connection with Fig. 1. Owing to the use of the intermediate transformers 40, 41, the relays 5 and 13 Vare only energized in fault conditions.

In Fig. 5, which is a modification of the arrangement shown in Fig. 4, the auxiliary summation transformers and 41 have their phase fault and earth fault vexcitation elements separated into units 40', 40 and 41,

l 41" respectively, each transformer being associated with a separate vibrating reed relay 5, 5', 13, 13', the contacts of which are connected through three pilot conductors 35, 36, 37 as shown in Fig. 3. Such an arrangement allows separate adjustment of phase and earth sensitivity to be effected.

In the several arrangements shown in Figs. 2, 3 and 4, it is necessary to short-circuit the circuit breaker trip coils by means of normal- 3"' ly closed contacts on the overload relay in reference numerals are employed.

order to permit tripping of the breaker between the supply source and the fault in the event of the fault being supplied from one end only. In the arrangement shown in Fig. 6, I have provided means whereby both breakers may be tripped open if faultA current is fed from only one end.

The arrangement, in general. is somewhat similar to that shown in Fig. 2 and similar In addiergizing windings'connected across the pilot A v conductors.

The contacts 46 arev connected in series with the contacts 2() of the overload relays so that the contacts of t-he vibrating reed relays-5 and 13 are normally open. In

the event of a fault occurring onthe section fed, for example, from the end nearest the circuit breaker 2,the `oyerload'relay l8associated therewith is energized, its contacts are opened and therelay 5 commences to vibrate. Momentarily then Va circuit is completed through the pilot conductors which causes the energization of control relays 45. The current which fiows in the pilot circuit, however, owing to the high resistance of the windings of the relays 45, is insufficient to operate the trip coils 10 and 14. section the closing of the contacts 46 of the relay 45 performs no additional function since the contacts 20 of the overload relay 18 At the far end, however, the clos# are open. y ing of the control relay contacts 46 effects the short-circuiting of the contacts of the relay 13, thereby completing the pilot circuit and energizing the trip coils 10 'and 14 whereby thecircuit breakers 2 and 3 are opened.`v

While I have shown and described my invention in considerabledetail, I do not desire to be limited to the exact arrangements shown, but seek to cover in the appended claims all those modifications that fall within th-e true spirit and scope of my invention.

N hat I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States,is,-

1. In combination, an electric circuit energized by Aalternating current, a'pilot circuit extending between two points of said electric circuit, means for' controlling said pilot circuit in accordance with the phase relation be-y tween the current in said electric VVcircuit at' one-of said points and the current at the other point including frequency responsive means adjacent each of said points connected yto be energized from the circuit to movein synchronism with the current thereof at the respective points, and means for normally pre? venting the synchronous movement of at least one of said frequency responsive means.

2. In combination, an electric circuit ener-- the electric circuit to move in synchronism with the current thereof at the respective points for effecting the energization of the At the near end of the 5 venting the synchronous movement of said4 pilotcircuit onthe occurrence of a fault on the'electric circuit between said points, and fault responsive meansconnected to bel ener` gized from said circuit for normally prefrom only one point.`

4f.V In combination, an relectric circuit energized by alternating current, a pilot circuit extendlllg between two points of said electric circuit, frequency responsive means connect- 25 ed to be energized from said electric circuit for controlling said pilot circuit in accordance with the phase relation between tlie current in said electric circuit at one of said points. andthe current at the other point and meansffor normally rendering said frequency responsive means 'inoperative to respond -to said -pllaserelation. j

5. In combination, an electric circuit energized. by alternating current, a pilot circuitv i extending between two points of said electric circuit, means for controlling said pilot circuitin accordance with the phase relation between the current in said electric circuit at one ,point and the current at another pointincluding af relayv atveach of said points con nected to beenergized from the circuit, each of said relays having a member movable in synchronisinwith the circuit current at the n point, and means for normally preventing the movement of tlie'inembel 0f at least 011@ 0f 05 nected to 'be energized from' said electric cir:-

said relays. I

6. In combination, an electric circuit en er'gized by alternating current, a pilot circuit n extending between two points of said electric Vcircuit, means for controlling said pilot `circuit in accordance with the phase relation between the current in said electric circuit at one point and the current at another p oint including a relay at each of said points con- Anected to be energized from the circuit, each of said relays having a member movable in synclironism with the circuit current at the point and contacts in` the pilot circuit conn trolled bythe movable meinberof the relays, the connection and arrangement of parts being such that the contacts are open when the currents at said points are substantially in phase,and' fault responsive relay means con` of said relay members.

"7. In combination, an electric circuit en-` ergized by alternating current, circuiti-riterruptingfmeans at each of two pointsof-said circuit for controlling the circuit, means for effecting an` opening of said interrupting meansv on the occurrence of a Vfault on the circuit includin-g a pilot: circuit extending `between two points, means for controlling said pilot circuit 'in accordance with the phase'ref lation vbetween the current in said electric circuit at one. of/said points and the current at the other -pointincluding frequency responsive .means vadjacent each of saidzpoints connected to be energized fromthe'circuit to move in synchronisin with the current thereof at the respective points and contacts in said pilot circuit controlled by said frequency responsive means, andf'ault responsive mea-ns connected to be energized from said circuit for preventing the syiiclironousmovement ofj said frequency responsive means wherebylto prevent the closure of said contacts.

In witness whereof, I have hereunto set my hand. y

` FRANCIS JOHN LANE;

CERTIFICATE OF CGRRECTIN.

Patent No. 1,890,33. December 6, 1.9.32.

FRANCIS JOHN LANE.

it is hereby certified that error appears in the printed speeificatienof the above numbered pateiat requiring cerrection as foilews: Page 4, line 75, claim 7, for "two" read "said"; and. that the said Letters Patent should be read with this correction therein that the same may eenorm to the record 0f the case in the Patent Office.

Signed and seaied this Vith day of January, A. D. 1%33.

M. J. Moore,

(Seal) Acting mmissimeer of Patents. 

